Personal and professional development for technology professionals.
» Bringing Ideas To Life. With Love!
By Rajesh Setty on Tue 17 Nov 2009, 3:33 PM - 2 Comments
Take a look at this cool video of a flight attendant on Southwest Airlines.
Now, it’s hard to beat that for sure.
Have a great day!
Posted under Compelling Offers.
By Rajesh Setty on Tue 17 Nov 2009, 2:29 PM - 3 Comments
I have written about thoughtfulness on this blog (1, 2, 3, 4) before.
You don’t have to do groundbreaking things to be thoughtful – it can be little things but with a lot of care. Let me illustrate this with a simple example
I heard from Robert Scoble (@scobleizer) on Twitter that Loic LeMeur (CEO of Seesmic) was switching the Seesmic platfrom from Adobe Air to Microsoft Silverlight. Being a semi-geek, I was curious to know more – especially the reason for the decision to switch.
So, I sent a query to Robert to see if he could share more. Here is my tweet:
Robert responded back very quickly and here is tweet. I have met Robert several times (who has not??) and he never ceases to amaze me. May be it’s his thoughtfulness.
Take a look at the tweet from Robert. A few things to observe:
1. The dot in front of my twitter handle ensures that others in the follower stream will read this tweet.
2. Robert ensured that his response is whole and complete – meaning for his followers to understand what is going on, they don’t have to click through a series of tweets – saving them time.
3. I had mentioned Loic’s name but Robert changed that to Loic’s twitter handle – that way Loic gets a notification (if he is interested) about this conversation.
4. The name of Loic’s company was not included. Robert included that (Seesmic) so if someone was searching for Seesmic, they will see this conversation too.
5. Lastly Robert included the hashtag for the conference #pdc09 so even those that are searching for conference info will find this conversation.
Yes, it’s just one tweet and Robert has 26,000+ of those. But with care and thoughtfulness you can get a lot more leverage from that ONE tweet (for instance, this blog post)
Quick Note:
The meetup presentation on “Thought Leadership 2.0″ is tomorrow – Wednesday November 18, 2009. If you are in the bay area, I would love for you to attend. Details are below:
Silicon Valley Busines Meetup Nov 18, 2009: Thought Leadership 2.0
Posted under Compelling Offers.
By Rajesh Setty on Thu 08 Oct 2009, 11:27 AM - 2 Comments
A social media powered eBook project is simply a collaborative effort conceived and completed with the power of social media. The project is dynamic, participatory and even democratic in nature and takes on its own life as it evolves from an idea to a final product. ”Defiant: Practical Tips for thriving in Tough Times” (a 90-page eBook) is one such attempt on social media.
For those of you who are interested in the day-by-day account of how the book was created, you can read Appendix IV within the eBook or you can get a sneak preview here. More than 50 contributors graciously provided content for the eBook and I am totally thankful to all of them. Collaborating on social media was the fastest way to get the collective wisdom and insights on a topic that is on the mind of many people – how to survive and thrive in these tough times.
In this article, I want to cover two things:
1. 7 Steps to Create a Social Media Powered eBook
2. 9 Building Blocks for a Successful Social Media Powered eBook
Creating a social media powered eBook is fun especially because the book can evolve in ways that can (positively) surprise even the creator of the project. So, here are the 7 steps at a high-level:
1. Conceptualize: Way before the eBook becomes real, it is conceptualized in your head. Having a clear vision for the project will help you to speed up the next steps of the project.
2. Create Content Outline: Your contributors are providing the puzzle pieces but only you know how the completed puzzle will look like. You hold the master-key for the project and should have the content outline at your finger-tips. Just remember that you might have to change this outline (several times) as the contributions start coming in.
3. Identify Contributors: The quality of the project is greatly influenced by the quality of contributions to the project. So you need good contributors to participate in your project. Make a list of who will add the greatest value to the project among the people that you and your network have access to. You may want the “best” to contribute but what is realistic is to get the “best among those you and your network have access to” to contribute.
4. Crowdsource: Effectively use the social media outlets to request contributions. For this project, I used LinkedIn Answers, Facebook and Twitter, a few mailing lists I belong to, my blog and my mailing list to solicit contributions.
5. Curate: Not all contributions are created equal. You have to apply the “ultimate filter” to ensure that the highest quality contributions will make the cut.
6. Collate: The next step is to organize the curated content based on the content outline you created before. This is really where you put the puzzle pieces together.
7. Create a Compelling Design: You can’t judge book by the cover but if the cover is not good, one may not pick up the book. So, invest on the design and packaging of the book. It will be well worth it.
OK, that was about execution. Before you go ahead and start executing on your own social media powered eBook project, please take a moment to think about the following foundational elements that will provide you the power and influence to “execute” on such a project.
Here are the seven building blocks for making your social media powered eBook project successful.
1. Resources: First, you need to dedicate resources (time, energy and mindshare) for this project. Second, you need “good” help from your network (in terms of project management, follow through, editing, design and development) to make this a reality. If you underestimate the resources required, either you will fail in the project or create a product that is below par affecting your identity and subsequently your ability to launch such a project in the future.
2. Relevance: The topic you pick has to be highly relevant – not just for you but for the contributors and the audience.
3. Reach: The total reach you have through all of your networks will greatly influence how quickly you can complete the project.
4. Relationships: Long-term relationships provide a huge competitive advantage on this or any other big project. Your friends will be happy to participate in such a social media project because well… they are friends, right?
5. Reciprocation: Social media is two-way street. You give and you get (and the order is important) Giving does not entitle you for getting anything back but not giving is a sure way of ensuring that you don’t get back anything. Unleash the power of reciprocation by giving first.
6. Results: Your past results will influence the willingness of key contributors to contribute to your project. Everyone is busy and there are so many social media outlets to contribute so your past results (if they are good) will sway the people towards contributing.
7. Resonance: Resonance is a big test. You are passionate about the project for sure. But will this “resonate” with the contributors and the audience that you want this to reach?
8. Remarkable: Make it a remarkable project so that others will feel proud to participate in. Remember that most of the contributors will already have powerful personal brands and they want to
9. ROII: ROI is return on investment for an interaction. Contributions are investing their time and the audiences you are reaching out to are investing their time reading the output. It is reasonable for both of them to expect a good return on investment for their interaction (ROII) and it is your duty to provide them just that.
If it seems like a LOT of work, it is. But the effort is worth it because of the leverage it provides to everyone that participates to make it successful.
You can see the outcome of the project by downloading the eBook by clicking the button below (no registration required)
Posted under Business Models, Compelling Offers.
By Rajesh Setty on Mon 24 Aug 2009, 10:38 PM - 7 Comments
My good friend Sunil Kanderi introduced me to Dr. Mani earlier this year. I am so glad I met Dr. Mani. I have been fascinated with his work and how much he is GIVING to this world.
Today is the release of Dr. Mani’s book – “Think, Write, Retire.” Being an Infopreneur, Dr. Mani has put together a great deal for people who will buy his book today. You can get the details about the promotion here
Learn about 14 bonuses that he has put together that is worth way over $600 for buying this cool book.
I asked Dr. Mani a few questions about the topics surrounding the book and (as usual) he has answered them brilliantly here.
RS: First of all, please tell our audience who is an “Infopreneur” and why is it cool to be one?
An infopreneur is an entrepreneur who works with information. Entrepreneurs assume risks in launching and running a business venture. Infopreneurs work with data, review and distill it down into relevant and useful information, package and present it into a format that others will want to buy – and then build a business around selling this packaged information for profit.
In other words, infopreneurs create and sell information products, and through them build massive wealth by creating a sustainable, profitable business.
And that’s what makes being an infopreneur so COOL! 
= = =
RS: “Think. Write. Retire” is a great title for a book. There are many people who can think and write but they are no way close to getting retired. What are they missing?
Many readers will glance at the title and think all they have to do is write a book, sell enough of it to earn a fortune, and retire. And that may well happen.
But more realistically – and excitingly – my book will show readers how to take an information product they create, and make it the foundation of a plan to retire and live the life of their dreams.
It’s all a part of a process.
And in ‘Think, Write & RETIRE!’, I share that exact process which is a kind of narrative of my own experience as an infopreneur. I’ve written many books, most published digitally as e-books, and sold them online. The money earned from this has funded my lifestyle, seeded an investment portfolio that has now grown into solid income producing assets, and supported a deeper purpose that helps children with heart birth defects.
I’m now ‘retired’, in the sense that I no longer have to work for money. I still work – but on my passions. And what made that possible is the process I teach in “Think, Write & RETIRE!”
= = =
RS: Apart from Thinking and Writing, what are three things that Infopreneurs focus on to get to their goals?
1. Dreams. Your own dreams, as an infopreneur, are what fuel the effort, time and expense you’ll invest into becoming one. They are what make the end result worthwhile.
2. Value. Your primary aim, as an information marketer, is to add value to the lives of your clients. It may be as simple as making them smile or laugh. It may be as serious as saving their life, finances or relationships.
3. Audience. Your ultimate focus should always be on what your audience is looking for, wanting to buy, needing help with. By delivering what they already are seeking, you simplify the process of selling, and transcend to a level of making their lives better, in one way or another.
= = =
RS: What are the typical mistakes Infopreneurs make?
1. Getting too involved in what you want or like. It isn’t ever about yourself, the infopreneur. It is always about ‘them’, your prospects, readers, buyers.
2. Trying too hard to get everything perfect. ‘Perfection’ is usually an illusion. You certainly shouldn’t put out junk or poor quality content. But don’t over-analyze your information products to the point you waste too much time tweaking things when they are good enough already!
3. Giving up too early. Success is often just around the corner – and you’ll find it as long as you’re willing to keep walking towards it. Too many times, people give up just before they arrive at it.
= = =
RS: What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started your journey as an Infopreneur?
Well, I’d say two of the biggest infopreneur lessons the years have taught are:
* Picking a Niche is MOST vital
* Striving to deliver VALUE is your biggest competitive edge
In a sense, I’ve known this intuitively ever since I started out as an infopreneur in 1995. But over the years, I’ve received so much validation that this is absolutely the best path to follow as an infopreneur.
That’s the reason I devote two full chapters in ‘Think, Write & RETIRE!’ to these two principles. Just reading them alone will proof any infopreneur’s business against competition!
Posted under Announcement, Compelling Offers.
By Rajesh Setty on Sun 15 Feb 2009, 6:49 PM - 5 Comments
Yes, you got to follow the process but.. you need to use your brain too.
Here is an example:
I was at Frys buying a gadget for around nine dollars. The person at the cash register did something on the computer, paused, looked at me and asked – “Sir, would you like to buy an insurance for this item..it’s only $5.95″
I was busy checking something on my blackberry. I looked up and smiled at him.
Thinking my smile was a nod of agreement, he asked again – “Should I go ahead and add it?”
I told him that I smiled at him surprisingly not in agreement.
It is interesting to observe people who are blindly following the process. I feel sorry for them in a way as I honestly hope that the kid who was working there wanted to get some “experience” in the real-world but this is really not the way of getting that experience.
Oh, well..
PS:
1. I love Frys and this has nothing to do with the store. I wish them well.
2. The title was tongue-in-cheek – pun intended.
Posted under Compelling Offers.
By Rajesh Setty on Wed 04 Feb 2009, 11:09 AM - 1 Comment
OK, below is a video that will show you how to do just that. Enjoy!
The video has been viewed more than a million times.
Now, what is the point?
First, it is interesting to learn to fold a shirt in 2 seconds.
More important, there is a lesson here. What other trick similar to “folding a shirt in 2 seconds” do you know? All you need is a simple video camera and basic editing skills to get that on to YouTube.
Most people keep waiting for that “right opportunity” to act. With the tools available today, you can go and create that “right opportunity.” This video is one such example.
Posted under Compelling Offers, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Sun 01 Feb 2009, 4:57 PM - 2 Comments
When you are absolutely the best, there is really very little competition. As they say, there is not a lot of traffic in the extra mile. You can see an example when you see the list of top 25 films of 2008 (based on box office earnings)
[Source: IMDB]
The #1 film on the list is “Dark Knight” that earned $530.9M where as the #2 movie earned $318.3M.
An interactive chart with the list is here below (all numbers in Millions):
Have a great Super Bowl Sunday
Posted under Compelling Offers.
By Rajesh Setty on Sun 01 Feb 2009, 8:00 AM - Leave Comment
There is no ABSOLUTE value for anything. It’s all relative. There is a time and a PLACE for everything. You bring your products or services at the right time and the right place and you have a winner!
If it seems too obvious, it is. It is just that executing on the seemingly simple thing is…well, quite complicated!
Posted under Compelling Offers.
By Rajesh Setty on Wed 14 Jan 2009, 9:58 PM - Leave Comment
At least that’s what this new network ( exclusively for interim CEOs ) thinks you will do?
LOL
Posted under Announcement, Compelling Offers, Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Mon 05 Jan 2009, 12:51 AM - Leave Comment
I am a big fan of Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders and 800-CEO-READ and any place where they sell great books.
Today I received an email from Barnes and Noble about a weight loss book.
People who have seen me in person know that if I lose any more weight I might disappear 
This ad made me laugh out loud.
A message to Barnes and Noble: Carpet bombing won’t help. I will buy at least a few dozen books in 2009. So, please send me an offer that will make sense to ME!!
Posted under Compelling Offers.
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